Partners in Parenting

“What is that?!?!”

I went to the closet this morning to get my coat before leaving for school.  I noticed some small round object on the floor near the closet door.  I started to bend over to pick it up figuring it was something rather ordinary.  At the last moment, I decided I probably shouldn’t pick it up since I didn’t know what it was.  The area of the floor was dark, so I turned on the light to see what it could be.  My foot was right beside this thing when the light went on, but I quickly jumped back once I could see it.  I was rather astonished!!

Here’s a picture.  Can you guess what it is on the rug??

I immediately started thinking things like bloated spider, poisonous snail out of its shell, fungus growing out of control, etc.  Then I started thinking about whether it was alive, dead, soft, hard, fast or slow moving, non-moving, poisonous to touch, etc.  I was utterly confused, and kept thinking to myself, “What is that?”

I took a picture before finding out for myself what it was on the rug.

This whole event this morning made me think of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem.  People had no idea what that child would do.  People could not fully understand who that child was in being God sent down to earth.  Shepherds heard of his birth and came looking for that child wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger, but did they fully comprehend the fact that that child was the Savior of the world?  The innkeeper, the animals in the stable, the people in town who were relatives of Joseph, and anyone else around when Jesus was born wouldn’t have known the destiny of that child or all of humankind because of His life, death, and resurrection.

Far too often, I keep thinking of baby Jesus during the Christmas season, and I don’t think about Savior Jesus...  even though that child is both baby and Savior.  The angel told the shepherds exactly what they needed to know about that child in Bethlehem:  “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”  Luke 2:11

Family Discussion Points!

Take a guess at what the object in the picture is.  You can write down your guesses or email me if you’d likeJ

Talk about the people alive when Jesus was born and what they would have thought about this new baby.  Do you think they would have had any idea who was just born?

As you celebrate Christmas, don’t focus too much on the “What is that?” and miss out on understanding “Who is that?”

Partners in Parenting

“Memories CAN be relived!”

This past weekend, our family relived an old and very happy memory.  We’ve always had a real Christmas tree.  The only memory our kids have had (with the exception of 2013) is going to a farm and finding our own Christmas tree.  Once we find the perfect tree, we then have to cut it down ourselves, drag it to where the tractor and wagon will pick us up, and wait for the farmer to deliver us and the tree back to our vehicle.  We did this over the weekend at the same farm the kids had gone to for years when they were young.  It was a wonderful time, and it brought back lots of events and stories from the past.  The kids ran around looking at trees and declaring, “This is the one!”  However, when the others in the family gave it a good looking-over, it was not “the one.”  So the search continued while walking through acres of trees on the farm until finally, way in the back of the farm, the perfect tree was identified.  I cut it down, and it fell on top of Evan – yes, another memory was made.  He was not injured, but we all had a great laugh together.  It is now a memory that will be relived again.  Maybe not physically relived, but I bet it will be told someday so we can relive it again…and again…and again…

Parent make memories for their family in the traditions of the family.  Sometimes, we aren’t even aware of those memories being made.  Think about some memories together and relive them as a family.  Either relive them physically by going there and doing that, or by talking about them!  Either way, they are being relived and create happy memories as you can see from the picture of my kids!

Family Discussion Points!

Talk about Christmas memories that are a part of your family.  When did they start?  Did you plan to have that memory be an important memory or did it just happen?

Telling stories about the past can help connect kids to their roots.  Share memories from your own Christmas celebrations growing up.  Your kids will love it.

If you want to start a new memory for your kids, NOW is the time to do it.  Talk about that as spouses to determine what you might want to start.